Dolphins DC Matt Burke says rookie mistakes need to be a thing in the past

The Miami Dolphins have a few young players the team will be depending on this season such as defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and linebackers Raekwon McMillan and Jerome Baker. But just because they’re young doesn’t mean the coaching staff will use that as an excuse for any mistakes they make.

During his media availability on Monday, Dolphins defensive coordinator Matt Burke told reporters that the Dolphins’ young players are past the point where they should be making rookie type mistakes on the field.

“Maybe in OTAs, that’s part of what we’re doing and maybe too now, but at some point, everyone thinks you have a lot of time left. But this clock starts ticking real quick in terms of the season and getting guys that have to play,” Burke said. “The rookie mistakes are all cute, but at some point you have to be ready to perform for us on Sundays. That window, if it isn’t closed yet, it’s closing pretty rapidly.”

The Dolphins have recently made some changes defensively including moving Fitzpatrick from safety to slot corner. Also, the Dolphins moved Bobby McCain from the starting slot corner spot to the boundary corner position opposite Xavien Howard while inserting Baker into the starting linebacking corps along with McMillan and Kiko Alonso.

Against the Buccaneers during Thursday’s night preseason opener, the Dolphins give up 399 total yards and three touchdowns on the night. Needless to say, Burke was not happy with the Dolphins’ performance.

“I was disappointed in Thursday night, and I thought yesterday we had a pretty solid practice, but today was real sloppy,” Burke said. “We can’t play like that. We can’t be up and down. We can’t have one good day and one bad day. It just doesn’t work in this league. It’s been a little frustrating the last week or so. I’m hoping we can right this ship and have a clean rest of the week and go show what we’re going to do on Friday night.”

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